Activision appears poised to unveil a new Guitar Hero game in an attempt to reboot the music game genre that once generated more than billion dollars a year in revenues. The company teased a new video today hinting at a reveal tomorrow.
The reboot is going to be a big test of the music games genre, which rose within a few years to $1.4 billion in 2008 but then collapsed due to a lack of innovation and oversaturation. At first, the plastic faux guitars were the rage, and competition between Guitar Hero and Rock Band set the genre on fire. But people tired of the over-priced pieces of plastic and having to pay for each new set of songs.
Hints of a new Guitar Hero surfaced as publications began reporting on an Activision-inspired music festival called SoundDial.The event invitation featured fictional bands such as Broken Tide, Blackout Conspiracy, and the Portland Cloud Orchestra. And Kotaku U.K. also reported that a new Guitar Hero would be announced at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2015. A rival Rock Band title is also in the works at Harmonix.
The video shows members of Broken Tide getting ready for a performance at the SoundDial event. It closes with the message, “It’s about to get real” and the date 4-14-15.
Activision generated more than $2 billion in total revenue for Guitar Hero. The last Guitar Hero game debuted in 2010. In that year, Activision released Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock and DJ Hero 2. Neither did well, and Activision shelved further development in early 2011.
Back in 2011, Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick said that the Guitar Hero franchise lost its innovation and the audience disappeared as result. He said the company realized that it had to seriously revamp the game before coming out with another version. It has turned out to be a long wait.
Rival Harmonix soldiered on with more Rock Band titles, and it subsequently scored hits with gesture-controlled dance games such as Dance Central. But its Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved fell short of expectations when it debuted last fall.
Hints of a new Guitar Hero surfaced as publications began reporting on an Activision-inspired music festival called SoundDial.The event invitation featured fictional bands such as Broken Tide, Blackout Conspiracy, and the Portland Cloud Orchestra. And Kotaku U.K. also reported that a new Guitar Hero would be announced at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2015. A rival Rock Band title is also in the works at Harmonix.